1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elliptical trainers and more particularly, to a pedal correction mechanism for elliptical trainer.
2. Description of the Related Art
An elliptical trainer is a recently developed cardio-respiratory fitness exercise machine for shuffling the feet back and forth within their elliptically shaped paths to simulate walking, running, or stair climbing without causing excessive pressure to the joints. Simply speaking, an elliptical trainer generally comprises two pedals, a flywheel, two pedal links coupled between the pedals and the flywheel, sliding tracks, a roller pivotally mounted at the rear side of each pedal and movable along one respective sliding track, and two swing rods respectively connected to the pedals by a respective support rod.
Thus, when the user pedals the left and right pedals, the pedal links are moved to rotate the flywheel, and the rollers are moved with the pedal links back and forth along the respective sliding tracks. At the same time, the pedals are moved along their elliptically shaped paths and the user's hands are moved with the respective swing rods back and forth to simulate walking, running, or stair climbing.
Regular elliptical trainers commonly use a multi-link structure to couple movable component parts together. In order to correct the effects of cumulative tolerances due to the functioning of the multi-link structure in an elliptical trainer, rod end bearings are set between support tubes and swing rods. However, the installation locations of the rod end bearings cannot provide an accurate correction function. Under this condition, the cumulative tolerances among the component parts will also be guided to the rollers during the operation of the elliptical trainer, causing moving instability of the rollers and noises. When it is more serious, the rollers may come off the sliding tracks, affecting user safety.